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Although one out of three adults--about 78 million people--has hypertension, only 52.5% of adults have it controlled. With direct medical expenses estimated at $47.5 billion a year and $3.5 billion [...]

To date, 9 human polyomaviruses (HPyVs) have been identified: BK polyomavirus, JC polyomavirus, Karolinska Institute polyomavirus, Washington University polyomavirus, human polyomavirus 6 and 7, Trichodysplasia spinulosa-associated polyomavirus, Merkel cell polyomavirus [...]

The prevalence of obesity in developing countries is more noticeable in urban areas with as much as 20-50% of the urban population of African countries estimated to be either overweight or obese. Studies investigating the prevalence of overweight and obesity in developing countries have mainly been concentrated in the capital and major cities of these countries whilst neglecting other urban settlements. It is against this background that a hospital-based cross-sectional design was employed to determine the overweight and obesity prevalence in Cape Coast, an urban settlement in the Central Region of Ghana, to identify the vulnerable groups and factors associated with the disease within this urban population. Anthropometric methods and structured questionnaire were used to determine the BMI status of 300 adults sampled from the Out Patients Department of the main hospital in the area and establish the predisposing factors of the disease in the area. Prevalence of overweight and obesity within this population was relatively high with rates of 21% and 17%, respectively. Several socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics, and parity were found to be associated with overweight and obesity in the area. Of the socio-demographic parameters studied age, sex, occupation, marital status and ethnic origin of respondents were highly associated with overweight and obesity (p Key words: Prevalence, Overweight, Obesity, BMI, Exercise, INTRODUCTION With the developed world grappling with a proportionately high burden of non-communicable diseases, developing countries are experiencing a double burden of non-communicable and communicable diseases [1]. Overweight and obesity, [...]

Objectives. We sought to determine the prevalence of HIV and novel cofactors of high-transmission-risk behavior in a probability sample of men who have sex with men (MSM). Methods. We performed a cross-sectional telephone survey of 1976 adult MSM in San Francisco. Results. We found an HIV prevalence of 25.2%. Predictors of unprotected insertive anal intercourse with a serodiscordant (not having the same HIV/AIDS serostatus) partner among HIV-infected men included use of Viagra and a greater number of partners in the past 12 months. Unprotected receptive anal intercourse with a serodiscordant partner among men not known to be HIV infected was independently associated with having lived in San Francisco for less than 1 year, use of crystal methamphetamine and amyl nitrites, a greater number of partners, and agreement with the statement, 'You are less careful about being safe with sex or drugs than you were several years ago because there are better treatments for HIV now.' Conclusions. Strategies to prevent HIV for urban MSM should focus on new predictors of HIV transmission. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2005.072249

We describe the emergence of serotype G12 rotaviruses (67 [6.9%] of 971 specimens tested) among children hospitalized with rotavirus gastroenteritis in Hungary during 2005. These findings are consistent with recent [...]

A novel manifestation of HIV-associated lipoaccumulation is described and the prevalence of and risk factors for development of pubic lipomas (PLs) is evaluated. The results show that PL is the latest manifestation of HIV-associated lipoaccumulation that is more likely to occur among those with coexisting dorsocervical fat pads, indicating the possibility of a common pathogenesis between the 2 entities.

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and its predictors in antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive HIV-infected patients is examined. The results have not shown any increase in prevalence of DM in ART-naive HIV-infected patients.

Objectives. We examined the associations between socioeconomic position, co-occurrence of behavior-related risk factors, and the effect of these factors on the relative and absolute socioeconomic gradients in coronary heart disease. Methods. We obtained the socioeconomic position of 9337 men and 39255 women who were local government employees aged 17-65 years from employers' records (the Public Sector Study, Finland). A questionnaire survey in 2000-2002 was used to collect data about smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, obesity, and prevalence of coronary heart disease (myocardial infarction or angina diagnosed by a doctor). Results. The age-adjusted odds of coronary heart disease were 2.1-2.2 times higher for low-income groups than high-income groups for both men and women, and adjustment for risk factors attenuated these associations by 13%-29%. There was no further attenuation with additional adjustment for the number of co-occurring risk factors, although socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with the co-occurrence of multiple risk factors. The absolute difference in coronary heart disease risk between socioeconomic groups could not be attributed to the measured risk factors. Conclusions. Interventions to reduce adult behavior-related risk factors may not completely remove socioeconomic differences in relative or absolute coronary heart disease risk, although they would lessen these effects.

Objectives. We examined socioeconomic inequalities in initiation and cessation rates of smoking and the resultant inequality in smoking prevalence among 3 consecutive Italian birth cohorts. Methods. We used data from the 1999-2000 Italian National Health Interview Survey, which included 28958 men and 29769 women who were born between 1940 and 1969. The association between smoking variables and level of education was assessed with logistic regression and life table analyses. Results. Inequalities in the lifetime prevalence of smoking increased across the 3 birth cohorts in Italy. At age 40, lower-educated persons in the youngest cohort reported on average 1 to 5 years of additional exposure to regular smoking compared with higher-educated persons. Inequalities in smoking prevalence increased among both men and women because of widening inequalities in initiation rates. Among women, growing inequalities in cessation rates also played a role. Conclusions. The relative contribution of initiation and cessation to socioeconomic inequalities in smoking rates varied by both gender and birth cohort. For the youngest birth cohort, policies that address inequalities in smoking should focus on both initiation and cessation.

We isolated Candida dubliniensis from a nonhuman source, namely, tick samples from an Irish seabird colony. The species was unambiguously identified by phenotypic and genotypic means. Analysis of the 5.8S [...]

We found antibodies to leptospires in 25 (18%) of 141 wild boars from Berlin (95% confidence interval 12-25). Seropositivity was associated with chronic interstitial nephritis (odds ratio 10.5; p = [...]